Honey Vanilla Peach Freezer Jam

There is no better season in Ontario than peach season! It's hands-down the best ever, and I'm willing to fight anyone who says otherwise. I go peach crazy as soon as the first local peaches appear, and find myself buying baskets of peaches every few days to keep up with my consumption. It's such a short season, so you really can't blame me for wanting to take advantage as much as possible, as well as extend the season in any way I can.

My trick for extending peach season this year is to turn those fresh and juicy wonders into jam that I can enjoy well into the fall and winter. Every single morning I start my day with an egg and toast, and being able to make peaches apart of that breakfast every day for the next eight months makes me giddy!

The freedom of playing around with different flavours was also what drew me to making jam. I wanted to infuse some other flavours into my peach jam to make it a little more complex and unique. When I think of some of my favourite ways to enjoy fresh peaches in the summer, they almost always involve honey and vanilla. I love making simple desserts with fresh peaches, by grilling them up and topping with a drizzle of honey and either fresh vanilla cream or French vanilla ice cream. To mimic those flavours in my jam, I substituted some of the white sugar for organic honey, as well as adding some pure vanilla extract.

While this jam is certainly sweet when trying straight from the jar, its perfect on top of buttery toast! Play around with different ways of serving this jam to make it your own! Think of glazing tarts, topping plain yogurt, or stirring into smoothies! Let me know how you play around with this jam in the comments below.

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh peaches (about 2 cups chopped, or about 3 medium peaches), peeled, pitted and chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 package (57g) Original Certo Pectin Crystals
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Metro Irresistibles Organics Pure Honey
1/2 tsp Metro Irresistibles Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. Thoroughly wash enough jars/containers and lids that will hold approximately 1 1/4-pints of jam (most canning jars come in 1-pint, 1/2-pint, and 1/4-pint sizes) with very hot water, and dry thoroughly. Set aside. 
2. In a medium saucepan set to medium-low heat, add peaches. Cook and crush using a potato masher. Mash until peaches have reached desired consistency (about 10-15 minutes).
3. Add lemon juice and pectin crystals and stir to combine. Bring to a boil at high heat.
4. Stir in sugar, honey, and vanilla and return to a boil. Cook for 1-minute. 
5. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5-minutes, stirring occasionally. 
6. Pour into warm, sterilized jars, leaving about 1/2 inch at the top to allow for expansion. Cover with lids and let stand at room temperature for 24-hours or until set. Keep jars in freezer for 8 months, or until ready to enjoy! Jam will hold in the fridge for about 3-weeks. 

This post was created in partnership with Metro Ontario. 

Listening To:
Kanye West - Ghost Town

Habanero Peach Hot Sauce & Overcoming Fear

Years ago I was crazy about a boy, a boy who was crazy about someone else. Let's call this "someone else" The Girl with the Habanero Peach Hot Sauce. I call her this because, for whatever reason, one of the things that stands out in my mind the most after all these years was this little bottle of Habanero Peach Hot Sauce that she had given the boy from her travels. He loved the hot sauce just as he had the girl. Just like the hot sauce, the girl had a spicy and sweet personality, was somewhat exotic, and was not easy to obtain. In my eyes I was Franks Red Hot Sauce...or maybe even a generic, no-name brand pretending to be Franks. I was one note. I was boring, generic, and was always there. 

I was mad at myself. Mad for allowing myself to become this generic cookie-cutter of a human, because of what? Fear? Yup, that's exactly what it was - fear. Too afraid of the outcome or to be in the thick of the scary moment, I would push aside opportunities, wants, desires, needs, and so much more all in the name of fear. Too afraid to be rejected, I didn't fight for the guy, I didn't go after the job, I didn't make the tough decisions, I didn't do...well, much of anything. That summer I said "fuck it!" to fear. "Fuck you, fear!" I yelled in the ravine that connected to my backyard! "Fuck you for ruling my life!" I wasn't going to let that happen anymore. 

That summer I lived without fear. I put myself in positions I had never before been in. I had a summer fling with a stranger I thought was out of my league. I went to concerts with friends and acquaintances I rarely saw and some I hardly knew. I stayed up until the sun came up more than I can count. I spontaneously hopped a plane with a friend for a week of daiquiris and dancing. Hell, I even went skydiving! I kicked fear in the ass! 

I was so proud of myself at the end of that summer. Proud of all that I had accomplished. Proud of the stories I had to tell. Proud of the chances I took and the strength with which I approached them. It wasn't about the boy at all. It wasn't about proving to him that I too could be Habanero Peach Hot Sauce. It was about proving to myself that I was those things. They were always there, all I had to do was lift the heavy weight of fear to unearth them. 

It's been years and years now since that summer of saying "fuck you" to fear. I'm a different person now, in both good ways and bad. The good is that I've finally started to come into my own. I know who I am and what I'm not, and I'm not willing to sacrifice that for anything or anyone. I have a strong sense of self, that I wouldn't have been able to possess unless I had found myself in the gutter of fear. The bad? While I've changed in so many positive ways, there's always things to work on, and boy, have I got a lot of that. And that, in itself, is the bad. 

After going through a summer of transformation like that, it's easy to be overly critical of yourself when you find yourself falling into old habits. That's where I was at the beginning of this Spring, hating myself. Mad at myself for once again allowing fear to control my life. I was unhappy with where I was and felt stuck. I took a big scary leap and quit my job to allow myself to face the fears that I had been building up in my head. I forced myself to practice my craft every day. I forced myself to reach out to the people I admire and ask for assistance. I forced myself to talk to the people that intimidate me. With the lens of self-doubt, it would be easy to look at this summer as a waste. I could have done more, I could have said more, I could have been more, but look at all the things I did do! 

While I didn't make quite as much progress with my career as I had hoped (though I have to remember to still honour the development that I did make), I'm proud to say that I've come such a long way in terms of tackling my personal demons. I forced myself to own up to and work on the things that I didn't like about myself. I've started opening up to people about the anxiety that has plagued me since childhood. I've started seeing a therapist that will allow me to work through the things that I am so very ready to overcome. I forced myself to say "no more" to the people in my life who have continued to hurt me. I started exercising every day for my mind more than my body. I've looked deep within myself to understand what makes me happy and what fuels me, and also, what does the opposite. Though I know overcoming my fears will be a battle that I may have to work on for my entire life, each time I find myself in this cycle it feels a little easier. Because I've gone through this before it's so much easier to remember that yes, I do have Habanero Peach Hot Sauce within me, and it doesn't have to be so scary to let it out. 

Check out Fo Reals Life's recipe for Habanero Peach Hot Sauce here! 

Listening To:

Frank Ocean - Seigfried